Columnist B.G. Verghese says that the only proper course would be to accept the constitutionally valid 1951-52 deadline as proposed by the Gana Sangram Parishad and deal humanely with those persons who would he rendered "stateless".

Lallan Prasad Singh, 66, as governor of Assam and the four other states in the North-Eastern Council, played the dove last week as most others in the Union Government and quite a few top officials in the state Government acted the hawk-clamouring for a crackdown on oil-picketers on or around April 8.

Last week, when Mrs Gandhi made her unexpected decision to visit Assam, she was, perhaps, giving belated recognition to the fact that the growing tension in that state requires immediate attention. Till then, the Central Government was content to fight a war of nerves with the leaders of the agitation with each side trying to outstare the other. India Today's correspondent visited Assam last week to study the mood and the main issues that Mrs Gandhi has to tackle.

"India cannot afford just to look on as if the embarrassments of Pakistan serve her national interests. Our confusions lost us the Tibetan buffer, and our confusions may well lose us another buffer in the north-west". - Romesh Thapar.

It contained all the ingredients of an Indian Chappaquiddick - the mysterious death of an attractive young woman; a cloud of suspicion looming over a prominent, fast-rising politician, and, surrounding the entire affair, a complex and confusing web of half-truths and cover-ups with murky political connotations.

The third and concluding instalment on forestry in India focuses on the social and technological factors that play a vital role in the preservation of forest wealth. The writer, Murad Ali Baig, advocates that the Government should multiply all targets for investment and development.

Since the August 14 attempt to kill him CPI-M Legislator M. Omkar has been afraid to enter his constituency. Living in exile under strict security guard in the Hyderabad Legislator Hostel, the 54-year-old spectacled firebrand is accused of plotting murders in his constituency.

Governors, like children are meant to be seen but not heard. When the Congress(I) triumphantly dismissed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government of M.G. Ramachandran, it did not bargain for Prabhudas Patwari, 70, the politicking Tamil Nadu governor.

Spearheading the new thrust in the party are Sanjay Gandhi, and a whole
new group of young men who have come to the fore with him. They claim it is they who saved the Congress from complete destruction, that it was
they who fought the struggle for survival, and brought the party back to power.

A demented Opposition last fortnight plunged itself towards self-annihilation like characters in a Greek tragedy cursed to destroy themselves through their insanity. While the Congress(I) set about winning voters and influencing people for the state elections about six weeks away, the Opposition staged another act of its sick charade.

Till last fortnight's events thrust Dalbhum Garh on to the front pages of local dailies, few knew of the existence of this little town just 60 km from Jamshedpur. A massive smuggling operation of coal and salt was allegedly unearthed and seven multi-millionaires, all local bigwigs, were arrested.

I always tell my foreign friends that if a corporation can do business in India, it will be successful anywhere in the world. If an entrepreneur, for instance, wants to start a new industry, it is like entering into an obstacle race.

The saga of Indian commercial inroads into the highly lucrative Gulf market has largely been a case of Paradise Lost. Correspondent DILIP BOBB spent a fortnight touring the Gulf areas recently and talked to a cross-sector of businessmen and local officials to find out exactly why Indian companies had managed only a small sliver of the Gulf cake.

In step with politicians, the press swooped down on Assam from all corners of the world. Foreign T. V. units scouted around Gauhati, while senior journalists from the national press mingled with demonstrators in an effort to capture "the atmosphere and the mood of the people".

Once you have reached the top, there's no place left to go but sideways. Nobody knows that better than Khushwant Singh, the lascivious sardarji who yanked Indian journalism out of its Victorian corsets with a judicious blend of soft porn stories and off-colour jokes.

International crises are to journalists what basement sales are to housewives - everybody fights to get there first. But there have been disappointingly poor queues at Kabul Airport ever since the Soviet-backed regime of Babrak Karmal decided to clamp down on journalists, specially from western countries.

The Samba spy case was by far the biggest scandal in the history of the Indian armed forces. However, very few details have leaked out to the general public, largely because of the thick blanket of secrecy that has been thrown over the case. Last fortnight, the case took a dramatic turn when some of the officers involved challenged the Government's dismissal order in the Delhi High Court.

If god came down from the heavens and asked Information and Broadcasting Minister Vasant Sathe what he wanted, the likely answer would be - colour television. But, what is the question for ordinary mortals to ask since they have to bear the brunt of it all?

When Yasser Arafat, flamboyant leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) declared 1980 as the "Year of the Palestinian State" even he could not have realised the significance of his prophecy. In the first few months of the year, the fortunes of the PLO have taken a dramatic upswing.

Small may be beautiful but large is profitable. When excise duty on matches made by large-scale industry was sharply raised last year in Charan Singh's first - and as it turned out, last - budget, it was feared that Wimco, the largest manufacturer of safety matches in the country, would suffer a setback.

One man's meat is another man's poison. Who says inflation brings nothing but trouble? It brings bonuses to shareholders, for one thing. As many as 27 companies announced proposals for the issue of bonus shares during the first quarter of this year involving capitalisation of Rs 54 crore - apparently an all-time record.

Disasters, it is said, come in threes. First, there was the drought which cut down farm output by nearly 10 per cent. Then the oil countries went on their regulatory annual price rampage and doubled the price of crude. As if this was not enough, inflation struck the economy like a hidden mine.

Suspicion of the Centre's intentions is just one of the major concerns of the articulate spokesman for the Left Front in West Bengal, Chief Minister Jyoti Basu. In this interview with India Today's Sumit Mitra, he answers to a whole range of questions right from investment to the disturbing one of law and order, and the maintenance of industrial peace in the state.

The 60th birthday in an artist's lift is not the ideal day for press interviews, especially if he has gone through a rigorous six-hour grind of prayers. But Ravi Shankar took time off from the rituals of the day to speak to India Today.

Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar turned 60 last fortnight. Characteristically, Shankar chose his own unique manner of celebrating it with a dip in the Ganges at Varanasi and an early morning boat ride. Having accepted the dwindling Western interest in Indian music, Shankar seemed to be returning to search for his roots.

"End of The Boom your on the spot report about the plight of Indians in the Gulf is shocking. At a time when India is paralysed by unemployment and struggling hard for foreign exchange, the development in the Gulf have further fuelled the crisis beyond proportion."

Amethi, a sleepy town of Uttar Pradesh will soon have a newspaper of its own. A new Hindi tabloid called Amethi Mail which has the blessings of Sanjay Singh - Uttar Pradesh Youth Congress(I) chief - will soon hit the news stands.